Fatal fall involving bus marks SF’s eighth pedestrian death of 2019

The death of a 66-year-old man who hit his head on a Golden Gate Transit bus and the ground in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood has prompted a supervisor to call for changes to a prominent intersection.

A southbound Route 70 San Francisco-Novato bus was traveling on Golden Gate Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Saturday when it stopped before turning right on Hyde Street to allow a pedestrian to cross, said Priya Clemens, a Golden Gate Transit spokesperson.

The driver began turning and the man fell backward into the bus, hitting his head on the vehicle and then the ground, Clemens said. The bus remained at the scene.

It is unclear if the pedestrian was in the crosswalk or on the sidewalk when the incident occurred.

“The actual mechanics of how it exactly went down is still being figured out,” said Adam Lobsinger, a San Francisco police spokesman.

First responders took the man to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.

The victim was a San Francisco resident who lived on McAllister Street, said Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the Tenderloin. The San Francisco medical examiner’s office declined to release the man’s name until notifying next of kin.

Golden Gate Transit is investigating the incident, Clemens said.

“Our driver immediately underwent our standard drug and alcohol testing and is on administrative leave until the investigation is resolved,” she said.

This fatality marks the eighth pedestrian death in San Francisco this year, according to Vision Zero SF, a safe streets program. A vigil for city pedestrians who have died this year was scheduled for Monday evening at the intersection of Golden Gate Avenue and Hyde Street.

Haney called for changes to the intersection after Saturday’s fatality.

“It’s an incredibly dangerous intersection,” said Haney, who lives a few blocks from the accident site. “The traffic in this area is very fast moving, and there are quick, rapid turns and a ton of pedestrians.”

The incident occurred a block from the scene of a March crash in which a truck driver fatally hit 58-year-old Janice Higashi, a San Francisco resident who was on her lunch break during jury duty. City officials have identified both intersections as two of the most dangerous crossings in San Francisco.

Gwendolyn Wu is a reporter who covers breaking news in San Francisco. Prior to joining the Chronicle staff, she wrote for the Santa Barbara Independent and San Francisco magazine. She is originally from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2018. Wu is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association. Her interests include testing new recipes and exploring used bookstores.